A shipboard experience for UH Hilo students

A new cooperative relationship between the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) will enable students attending UH Hilo to traverse the globe and obtain an international learning experience with the Semester at Sea program.

Qualified UH Hilo students will receive a generous scholarship from the Semester at Sea program that enables them to visit between 10 – 11 countries per voyage. Students receiving federal financial aid are able to use those funds to pay for the difference in the program as well as the cost of travel to and from the port of origin, books, student visas, and other personal expenses.

UH Hilo and ISE plan to annually award 10 scholarships over a course of five years. This five-year agreement was signed aboard the MV Explorer on Monday, April 20th, during its visit to O`ahu by ISE/SAS President Les McCabe and Chancellor Rose Tseng.

“We're thrilled to have an affiliation agreement," said McCabe. "We're diversifying our student body around the world and the opportunity to have students from this university fits perfectly with where we are trying to bring the program.”

Interested students should apply through UH Hilo's Center for Global Education and Exchange. Dr. Keith Miser, executive director of the Center said, "This is a very special occasion for the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo. We have been in conversation for a long time, where we could help Semester at Sea with its goal of enhancing diversity while at the same time creating opportunities for low income, first-generation, and diverse students to participate in such an exciting experience.”

“This is great for our students and for our global initiatives,” Tseng added. “Even though we're a very diverse school, many of our students don't have the opportunity to see the rest of the world.”

The Fall 2009 voyage will bring the MV Explorer to dock in Hilo after 13 years. This will be the 100th voyage of the Semester at Sea program. Interested students should contact Carolina Lam, director of Global Education at UH Hilo, at (808) 933-8809.

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